One Heck of a Ring
by Minty Chinchilla
Summary: Birthday presents aren’t usually picked out by their recipients. Only Kevin could manage this hijink. Kevin/Ben BeVin slash, one-shot.


**Rating:** T, for implied Ship/Kevin's car. XD

**Characters:** Ben, Kevin, Gwen, Julie, Ship, Sandra, Carl, Frank, Verdona, Ken, and Gwen's mom whose name I do not remember.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Ben 10: Alien Force, any of its characters, or any of its settings.

I do take full responsibility for this plot since a LiveJournal icon I made inspired it. And the idea would not leave my brain. Although the original icon was a bit flashier than what shows up here because the icon was impulsive and this was actually thought out.

**WARNING:** Reading this will make you feel like you are inhaling cotton candy laced with crack. Proceed at your own risk! Also, there be boy-lovings. Don't come bitchin' to me when your OTP isn't fulfilled by my writing. I'm sure someone else has written it for you already. Ship/Kevin's car is my OTP, and no one's written them at all. XD

**One Heck of a Ring**

_by Minty Chinchilla_

*****

Ben and Kevin were at the mall, of all places. Gwen had wanted to go and since they had no news of alien activity, the boys had no choice but to go along with her. Kevin considered it a blessing in disguise. The Tennysons' birthday was coming up, and he still had to get them presents. Not that he had really planned on it to begin with, but this seemed as good a chance as ever to finally get something done about that certain epiphany of his a few months prior. Oh boy oh boy, was it about time he did something about _that_.

Gwen had gone skipping off in search of whatever it was she was looking for, leaving the boys to their own devices.

"Hey, Tennyson, you and Gwen have got birthdays coming up, right?"

"Yeah, we're both on Saturday… how'd you remember?" Ben looked up at Kevin in surprise. Kevin shrugged.

"Dunno. C'mon, help me pick out a present." Kevin grabbed Ben's arm and dragged him in the direction of a jewelry shop. Ben's eyes widened a little.

'_Well, this sucks. Looks like he's finally gonna do something about Gwen. I knew I shouldn't have let myself get too attached. Now I have to help my own misery.'_ Ben would have tried to find an excuse to not help Kevin pick out a necklace or whatever for Gwen, but he would have a hard time explaining.

"Can I help you boys?" asked a smiling clerk behind one of the counters.

"I need to get something for someone." Kevin avoided Ben's eyes as the brunet spoke up.

"He has a crush on my cousin."

"Who said it was for Gwen?" Kevin replied. Ben's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. He had no idea how to respond to that. As Ben turned to look into another display, Kevin nodded his head in the shorter boy's direction. With a knowing look, the clerk suggested he look at the rings. Kevin grabbed Ben again and brought them over to the case holding the rings. "Which would you like, Ben?"

"I dunno. Gwen would probab—"

"Dude, I already told you." Kevin interrupted. "It's not for Gwen. I asked which _you_ would like, not her." Ben stared at Kevin in confusion.

'_What? But if not her, then who? He couldn't possibly be thinking about getting something for me, could he? No. No way. That's just hoping for too much.'_ Ben blinked away his thoughts and looked into the case. The clerk took out several standard-sizing rings and motioned for him to give her his hand. She went about testing which sizes fit his finger. Ben was _very_ confused at this point, but he figured he go along with it and humor Kevin.

"Umm… well if I had to choose…" He pointed at two different rings in the case. "That kind's too flashy. Big sparkly rubies are too out there and crazy, and they'd get in the way. I like this one the best because it's simple. Just a band. I wouldn't go for any kind of shiny whatchamacallits unless it was a small crystal or something. Oh, and nothing gold. Gold reminds me of Mike Morningstar." Ben grimaced at the thought of the sparkly blonde boy that was currently sitting through a sentence in the Null Void.

"That guy's getting his, no worries. I've been making sure of that." Kevin winked at Ben. Ben narrowed his eyes at Kevin, wondering how he could have been keeping tabs on Morningstar. He would have asked, but his phone rang.

"Hello? Oh, hi Mom." Ben started to wander out of the jewelry store. "Yeah, Gwen dragged Kevin and me to the mall. I'm helping him pick out a birthday present for her—"

"It's not for Gwen!" Kevin shouted across the store at Ben's retreating back. He turned to the clerk who was stifling her giggles. "You'd think he'd get it by now."

"I take it you've picked a ring to get him then?" She picked up the platinum band Ben had pointed out. Kevin nodded.

"I don't suppose you could get something engraved on the inside?" When the clerk affirmed that they did personalized engravings, Kevin glanced over to see if Ben was coming back. Seeing the brunet pacing outside the shop, still on the phone, Kevin filled out the form that the clerk had taken out. "Thanks, I'll pick it up tomorrow."

Ben was just hanging up when Kevin came out of the store. He smiled a little sadly, still convinced that Kevin was getting a ring for Gwen.

"Mom wants me back home soon. Something about helping Dad with cleaning the gutters."

"Then we better find Gwen. Don't think she'd take too well if we left her behind." Kevin smirked and Ben rolled his eyes, taking his phone out again to call her.

----------- x ----------

Saturday came around and brought with it Ben and Gwen's sixteenth birthday. Nothing too fancy was planned, just their families having a barbecue at Ben's house. Grandma Verdona surprisingly remembered the occasion and flew in for the day. She spent about an hour testing Gwen's growth as an Anodyte, and she shocked the pants off of Ken since he hadn't met her the last time she came to visit. The poor boy was more than a little astounded when she zapped up an entire full-grown tree in front of his eyes.

Julie came by to wish the cousins happy birthday. Ship tagged along with her, and the little mechamorph tried to become the grill. Ten spoiled hamburgers and five lost tofu-dogs later, Ben managed to pry the little blob from the barbecue. But before he could pass Ship back to Julie's arms, the mechamorph gave a delighted beep and jumped away, scooting around the side of the house to the front yard. Just as everyone ran around after him, they heard a shout.

"_YAMAMOTO! Get him off my car!_" Kevin was half out of the driver's side door, carrying a good-sized package and poking at Ship as he nuzzled and morphed with the sleek Camaro.

"I don't know if I can, he really likes it!" Julie was overcome with a fit of giggles, which spread over to Gwen. Kevin gave up on Ship and walked over to the crowd of Tennysons plus Julie.

"Thanks for inviting me, Mrs. T." Kevin nodded at Sandra, who smiled back.

"How could I not? You and Ben are such good friends." Ben thought there was something a little off about her smile. _'She couldn't know that I like him, can she?'_

Leaving Ship for some alone time with Kevin's car, the crowd moved back to the backyard. As Frank finished grilling the hamburgers, Kevin handed the present he was carrying to Gwen. Ben's brain flipped. _'I thought he got Gwen a ring… what is going on here?' _To make matters worse for Ben's mental state, Gwen unwrapped it to reveal a DVD box set of some TV show she was always watching. The shrieks of joy she _and_ Julie gave were too much for his poor brain to handle. Ben was just able to sit in his chair, completely boggled. He was so boggled, he didn't even notice when Kevin got out a smaller box from his pocket. Or when he placed the box in Ben's hand. Ben didn't notice until Kevin poked his cheek, mumbling something along the lines of "Hey? You still alive in there?" Ben blinked and looked at the box in his hand. It was that size, that perfect size for a ring.

"What? But I thought you got this for—" He was cut off by Kevin.

"How many times do I have to tell you it's not for Gwen?" Kevin's earlier grin had softened to something gentler, but there was still a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

"You—you tricked me into picking out my own gift?" If Ben's mind was boggled before, it was nothing compared to the level of boggling it was going through now. "Huh? How? How did you know?"

"Your mom."

"What?" Ben's eyebrows shot up. "This isn't exactly the place or time for 'your mom' jokes, Kevin."

"No, I mean your mom told me." Kevin's smile was still in place, that mischievous glimmer still in his eyes. The look on Ben's face turned into one of horror as he turned to his mother, who was standing behind him.

"You broke down your bedroom wall for him, Ben. That merely got the ball rolling in my mind. I've been watching you two, and Gwen's been helping me." Sandra was openly grinning now. She had been keeping an eye on him ever since he had destroyed that wall in order to save Kevin on that tanker. There was something about the way Ben looked at the older boy on the pier that night, something that clued her into what her baby was feeling for his ruffian friend. It was pure luck that Gwen had noticed similar things too and had brought it to her attention that they should orchestrate some kind of plan to get the two boys together.

Ben had no idea what was going on. He had failed in hiding his feelings from everyone. But it looked like everyone didn't care. Or rather, they did care, in a good way. And the one person that mattered most, Kevin, looked like he cared more than all of them. A small smile grew on Ben's face as he finally opened the little box in his hands. That simple ring he had pointed out the other day was sitting in the velvet. He gingerly took it out of the box. Something on the inside of the band caught Ben's eye. He tilted the ring to get a closer look, and saw an engraving:

_my hero_

When he looked up at Kevin, with a question in his eyes, Kevin merely shrugged.

"What can I say? You are." He took the ring from Ben and placed it on the younger boy's right ring finger. Ben's hand wouldn't let Kevin go, and it pulled him forward until the two were face-to-face, breathing each other's air. Ben stopped, feeling a little awkward in front of his entire family and Julie, but Kevin wouldn't have any of that and leaned in the rest of the way. It was short and sweet, just enough to satisfy the cravings that had plagued both boys for months, yet not quite enough so it left them wanting more. And just when Ben was about to kiss Kevin again, his family broke out in cheers and whistles and squees. By now the color of a tomato, Ben ducked his head in embarrassment and hid his face in Kevin's shoulder. The older boy wrapped his arms around Ben, and pulled him onto his lap.

"Well, I guess this means we're together?" Ben mumbled into Kevin's shirt.

"Yeah, Benji. I guess it does." Kevin's smile had returned to its previous grin. He stood and lifted Ben up bridal style. The brunet squeaked with indignation but made no move to get away. "If you all are done with the birthday boy here, I still have another present to give him."

Julie and Gwen gave more little shrieks of glee and Sandra pushed the two boys around the side of the house and towards Kevin's car. Ben's father had half a mind to stop Kevin from taking his boy away, but another look at how happy they both were kept him from saying anything other than "Bring him home tomorrow morning!" which cracked up his brother Frank. Poor Ken couldn't do or say much of anything since both his own mother and Verdona were hugging him tightly.

Ship was still schmoozing with Kevin's car, but he scooted off when Kevin let Ben down next to the passenger side door. Pushing the younger up against the car, he kissed Ben again, deeper and more intimately now that they weren't in front of so many people. One of Ben's hands ran through Kevin's hair and caressed his jaw while the other pulled on Kevin's shirt to bring him closer. Things probably would have escalated if Ship hadn't butted in, squirming up against Ben's leg trying to get some attention. Ben gave the little mechamorph a pat on his supposed head and pushed him back towards the house.

"I think Julie wants you back, Ship." Ben laughed at Ship's happy beeps and watched the black-and-green blob scoot back around the side of the house. Kevin had ignored the mechamorph in favor of lathering attention to Ben's neck. He enjoyed making Ben squirm under his ministrations, especially when the brunet gave a low moan as he nipped at the soft flesh just below his ear. And what he _really_ enjoyed was the feel of that ring against his skin as Ben ran his right hand along the side of his face.

"Ready to go?"

"I don't know if I can last the whole trip back to your place."

"I'll just have to drive fast. _Real_ fast." Kevin gave Ben another kiss then walked around the front of the car to the driver side door. Ben laughed as he climbed into the seat, but was cut off as Kevin leaned across the gearshift to catch him in yet another kiss. And Kevin certainly kept to his promise to drive real fast.

_**Fin?**_

*****

Ah, yes, some explanation may be warranted here. Most people would be yelling at me right now that "Hey! Rings go on the LEFT HAND! Not the RIGHT!" and I totally agree that in most Western cultures, the wedding/engagement ring _does_ go on the left hand. But this isn't exactly a wedding or an engagement, now is it? Nope, no it's not. Just so you know, typically _promise_ rings are worn on the right hand, to indicate the difference between the promise and the engagement. Also, the left hand thing started because most people are right-handed and the ring got put on the left hand to avoid getting lost/scratched/destroyed. Now, in my response to this: BEN IS A LEFTY. No joke. First episode of Alien Force? He offers to shake hands with Kevin twice, both times with his _left hand_. Now this may have just been done on the part of the animators/writers to show the Omnitrix again. Or it was to show that Kevin's hesitance may in fact have been because of the Omnitrix (and not because he wanted to be evil) and his fear of getting mutated again. Or it could have been done because people tend to shake hands with their dominant hand. And Ben's a lefty. I finish this argument with "A ten-year-old could have figured this out!" Because a ten-year-old _did_ figure this out. Thank you little brother.

You know, I could have taken the easy and funny way out and had Kevin give Ben his dick in a box… because, you know, he _is_ Kevin Levinlake. I guess he's just saving it for Christmas. XD (If you have no idea what I just said, you either don't watch SNL or you aren't a member of the Bevin LJ Comm. Or both. That works too.)

Do you want me to continue, or leave as is? And give me a viable reason, please, not "OOOHHHH MORE!" or something along those lines. That kind of thing is just FAIL in my book. Put some thought into it, for my poor writing skills' sakes.


End file.
